Quranist blogger Reda Abdel Rahman and two others released; Hamed Sedeek and Belal Abdel Razek’s detention renewed
Public Prosecution
On 28 February, the Qasr Al-Nil’s appellant judge decided to release Emad El-Sayed Ali Radwan in connection with Case No. 599 of 2020 (Qasr Al-Nil Misdemeanors). The prosecution decided to appeal against the decision before the Basatin Misdemeanor Court, which – in turn – decided the next day to dismiss the prosecution’s appeal and upheld the decision to release him under the guarantee of his place of residence.
Police forces arrested Radwan at Tahrir Square on 28 January 2022. He appeared the next day before the Qasr Al-Nil prosecution, where he faced charges of promoting a terrorist act on social media.
Criminal Courts
On 26 February, the Criminal Court renewed Belal Abdel Razek’s detention for 45 days, in connection with Case No. 488 of 2019 (Supreme State Security Prosecution).
Abdel Razek was arrested in early March 2019 for taking part in a protest in Alexandria. He faces charges of joining a terrorist group, promoting its goals, spreading false news, and misusing social media.
The Criminal Court also renewed Hamed Sedeek’s detention for 45 days, pending investigation into Case No. 1356 of 2019 (Supreme State Security). He faces charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media.
The Criminal Court’s decisions to renew Abdel Razek and Sedeek’s detention come despite the pair exceeded two years in pretrial detention, which is the maximum period stipulated by law. This requires their release or replacing their pretrial detention with one of the precautionary measures stipulated by law.
On 23 February, the Zagazig Criminal Court decided to release Quranist blogger Reda Abdel-Rahman, in connection with Case No. 3418 of 2020 (Emergency State Security Misdemeanor). Kafr Saqr Police Station implemented the court’s decision on 28 February.
The decision to release Abdel-Rahman comes after he spent nearly a year and a half in pretrial detention. He was arrested on 22 August 2020 for expressing his views about the holy Quran. He faced charges of joining the terrorist group ISIS, adopting Takfiri ideas and promoting them indirectly.
Supreme State Security Prosecution
The Supreme State Security Prosecution decided last week to release Mohammad Abd-Ellah Mokhaimer under the guarantee of his place of residence. It also annulled the precautionary measures imposed on him, in connection with Case No. 1956 of 2019 (Supreme State Security), in which he faced charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media. He was arrested in the first week of January 2020.
In a similar context, the Supreme State Security Prosecution decided last week to end the precautionary measures imposed on Mohamed Essam in connection with Case No. 751 of 2020 (Supreme State Security), in which he faced charges of joining a group established in violation of the law. The prosecution also decided to release him under the guarantee of his place of residence.
The precautionary measures previously imposed on Mokhaimer and Essam required them to stay a number of hours, two days a week, at the police station in their neighborhoods, as an alternative to pretrial detention.
